Your logo can make or break your business. Why? Because it tells a story about your business and communicates its unique value proposition.

Its the first thing your customers see and its the first thing that will be judged when someone makes a purchase decision.

Your business is probably amazing. You have a great team, lofty goals, and a great product or service. However, if no one knows about your company, youll never achieve the success you want.

This is why having agood logois so important. Its your first salesperson, customer representative, marketer, and brand builder, all in one. Its the essence of your business, which makes your companys logo design so important.

But dont worry, theres no pressure! Whether you are designing your own logo or providing feedback to a logo designer were here to help with the most important design tips. Follow these below and your logo and company will stand out in the hearts and minds of your consumers.

Fitting that this is the first tip. Logo design may seem easy at first, but youll quickly find how hard thedesign processis. Its important to start with a basic set of assumptions when designing the logo for your business. Even if you want to add shock value by breaking the design rules with your logo, you at least have to know what rules to break in the first place.

Therefore, learning the basic rules of design is important when brainstorming your company logo.

Logos can be distinctive, bold, practical, shocking, or understated. But, all design principles are the same. First, a logo needs to be simple. Theres no point overdoing it. However, company logos should also be memorable and enduring, standing up to thetest of time. So theres a balance youll need to achieve. Finally, company logos need to be versatile and appropriate for the intended audience. Also learnhow much a logo design costs.

Its possible to achieve all of these things by understanding logo design 101. In fact, all of these thingsarelogo design 101.

Now, it may seem as if none of this matters if you outsource your logo design to a graphic designer.Wrong. Its always important to understand the entire process, so even if you do decide to hire alogo designerto help, youll know what to expect. The same principle goes for tip number one, above. Familiarity with the basics of logo design will help you produce the best logo, regardless of whether youdesign ityourself or not.

Its therefore important to establish your own design process, either with yourself, internal team members, or a graphic designer. This betters the communication and streamlines the overall process.

Start with a design brief. Conduct a questionnaire or interview with a client or group of clients to compile notes. From there, carry out research on your industry, its history, and the competitive landscape. Then, using your notes and your research, review logo designs that have been successful with similar companies and environments.

After all the pre-work is complete, actually make sketches of potential logo designs. Revise and continue to sketch until you have a good idea of what it might look like. From there, its recommended to use a logo design service to put the finishing touches on the general idea.

This is just an example design process. Each business should have a process thats tailored to their specific needs. However, the important thing is that a process is established.

Theres a reason why some organizations grow to become thebiggest brandsin the world. Conversely, theres a reason why other companies never get off the ground in the first place. So, when youre deciding on your logo design for your business, why dont you take a leaf out of the book of reputable companies?

Nike is a great example of this. The multinational company has built a brand around a logo, and made its logo and slogan recognizable around the world. Well, what makes the Nike Swoosh so good? Why is it a great logo?

Answering these questions helps you understand what makes a good logo and what doesnt. Then, when its time to come up with your own business brand, youll know what you should do and what you should avoid. Dont break what isnt fixed. Learn from the biggest brands out there.

Its much easier said than done. However, if you take a look at all the company logos today, a lot of them are blatant clichs, or worse, blatant contradictions. You know, the lightbulb to signify ideas, a lightning bolt for innovation, etc. All of these images, while great, are overused.

Instead, get creative with the type of design youre trying to create. Specifically, understand what message youre trying to spread. What are your company values and what sets you apart from your competitors? Then, when you understand what youre trying to say, think about how you can say it differently. How can you design your logo so your customers get it, and at the same time, differentiate yourself from the competitive pack?

Try toavoid the clichs. There are still numerous ways to design your logo in such a way that its communicative and understandable. Try not to follow the crowd.

We already discussed yourlogo design process. Its important, if you remember. Part of that design process was research into your industry and your competitors. But just as important is the knowledge of your own business and its own brand. You cant design an effective logo if you dont truly understand your company and the value it delivers to the end-consumer.

So, before you start your design process, and even during it, make sure you immerse yourself in the brand of your company. Figure out what makes it unique and what causes customers to keep coming back. Better understand your company operations and find out where the value-add comes from. Finally, talk to your employees and interview the team members who make your business run.

Get to know your business like you were meeting it for the first time. Only then will you understand it enough to help design the proper logo.

Ok, up to this point weve discussed design tips to give you the best logo ideas. The previous five tips were meant to put you in the right mental headspace so you can prepare yourself to think of the best general designs. Now, lets discuss design specifics that might aide you in your logo design process for your business.

The first of these tips is tochoose your typefacecarefully. The words that spell out your company name are the most important part of your company logo, even if they dont seem so. This is due to the fact that its central to your logo design and signifies the main identifier of your business: its name.

Think about Microsofts typeface versus Facebooks decision to use a lower-case f in its name. Microsofts is predominantly gray while Facebooks us usually depicted as white letters against a blue background. Each of these small decisions further adds the companies logos, and therefore, their overall brand.

So, when youre thinking about your logo design, dont forget about your typeface. You have a decision whether you want to create your own custom typeface or adapt an existing one. Regardless, keep it simple and legible.

A type-only logo, as its name suggests, is a logo that only uses text. Its the simplest and most elegant type of logo, and its been used to great success. So, when youre discussing your logo design, dont rule out the name of your company in an engaging and interesting font.

However, if you choose to go this route, the typography chosen needs to carry the interest of the entire logo. So, unless you specifically want a simple design for its starkness, a bold and eye-catching custom typeface is probably best, orcreate a unique typefacefor your logo.

The best part about a type-only logo? You can convert it into an icon-sized logo! Think about the Facebook design again. Its type-only logo is white lettering on a blue background. But, when they created their mobile app, they were able to convert their logo by using the lower-case f as the entire design. Oh, and dont forget about the blue background. But, you can see why a type-only logo can be so effective.

Negative space is one of the sneakiest and most effective ways to design a logo. While the main logo design draws the eye in, its in fact whats not there that keeps a persons attention. In fact, ifnegative spaceis used effectively, its nearly impossible to tell what exactly is so compelling about the image, only that it is.

Think about the FedEx logo design. While the purple and orange lettering immediately grab your eye, theres something that makes it feel fast and forward moving. This is intentional, seeing as FedExs value proposition is fast and effective parcel delivery.

You see it when you look closer. Between the E and X of the FedEx logo is a white arrow pointing to the right. Its created by negative space. However, its the most important part of the FedEx logo because its the part of the design that communicates the brands value.

The worst thing you can do when you design the logo for your business is to make it passive. Therefore, the best thing you can do is to make it active!

But what is an active logo design? Great question! An active logo is one that feels as if it has some sort of movement. Think back to the FedEx logo. This is a rudimentary example of a logo that is active, thanks to the arrow. However, there are more complex logo designs that really make the company feel like its going somewhere.

Take Twitters logo, for example. The companys brand is depicted by a cartoon bird that seems to be taking off or already soaring. Its beak is pointed at a 45-degree angle and its wings are spread wide. This is the perception of action. Now, your logo design doesnt need to be as pronounced, but even if its a type-only logo, make sure it gives the feel of being active.

Customers resonate with brands that seem to be going places.

A lot of times a company will have a logo and atagline. And, if you watch closely enough, those companies will often have a logo that combines the two. This is a great sign of a good logo. One that can hold its meaning separately as well as inclusive of your company logo.

Thinking back to the Nike example, the companys logo often comes along with the tagline Just Do It, one of the most iconic sayings in brand advertising. However, you can add the Nike Swoosh to the tagline, keep it separate, or even go with the tagline only. All three combinations are recognizable.

Therefore, when youre coming up with your logo design, make sure that it fits with the mission statement or tagline of your business. Write the simple copy so it enhances the logo design, and vice versa.

Logo designs are subjective. Some people will like yours and some people wont. However, its important toseek feedbackto ensure you didnt miss anything big. There are countless examples of designs that were seen as inappropriate even though the company never intended it to be.

Creating a logo that offends people, even when its unintentional, is a great way to ruin your company brand and its reputation. To stop this from happening, look for constructive feedback from people you trust. Just make sure you dont listen to it all because people will always have their own opinions, however small.

The bottom line is that theres no blueprint to the perfect logo design. It takes a lot of thinking and revising to arrive at something that fits your company.

However, if you listen to the 11 tips above, and if youre willing to test and implement unique designs, youll have an effective logo for your business in no time.

Logos are an important visual aspect of any company. No matter what industry you are in or what product/service you provide, your logo is your first impression. But does this mean that a logo correlates to success?

SmartSigncreated a visual guide after analyzing over 2,000 logos to show you thebest logo attributesthat are correlated with success. The logo attributes that SmartSign analyzed were the logos color, type, shape, and style.

Some key takeaways include most logos being minimal, angular, and use blue or dark colors as their primary color. Check it out below to find out if your companys logo matches up to the attributes of fast growing and successful companies, as well as what makes a good logo.

Related PostsHow To Customise Your WordPress 2.5+ Log In ScreenLogo Design Process PodcastShould You Be Working From Home in 2013 or 2014?

ImJacob Cass, the founder of JUST™ Creative. Im a multi-disciplinarygraphic designer, working with clients all around the world, including the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Disney and Nintendo. My specialty islogo & brand identity design. JUST™Get in touch.

Thanks, jacob for providing information regarding Logo design.

if have any video in respective of logo design please share it

ImJacob Cass, the founder of JUST Creative. Im a multi-disciplinarygraphic designer, working with clients all around the world. My specialty islogo & brand identity design. JUSTGet in touch.

Business card providers make it quick and easy for you to design and print your own business cards, either using your own design or by choosing from a pool of templates. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and decided to reviewVistaprintMoo, andJukebox. These companies covered the range of options for small businesses in terms of price, available designs, and turnaround time.

We recommend Vistaprint as the best business card provider for small businesses because they offer the widest variety of templates, the option to easily design yourself online, and theyre affordably priced with a good turnaround time.

Pro Tip: Before you spend money on a professional business card, make sure everything on it is professional, including your email address. Nothing makes a customer lose confidence like seeing on your business card. Learn how toget a free professional business email address here.

Learn MoreEmail and live chat available 24/7

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We thinkVistaprintprovides the best business cards for small businesses because they offer the best combination of variety, quality, and cost. With over 8,500 different templates available, youre sure to find one that fits your business aesthetic and once you do, theyre easy to customize through the websites user-friendly design tool. Vistaprint will also save any customized design to your account so that theyre easy to re-order in the future. In fact, we like Vistaprint so much that we use it ourselves at FitSmallBusiness.

We use Vistaprint at Fit Small Business

Vistaprint offers a large range of business card design templates with a good selection of card treatments and finishes, all for a very reasonable price. With over 8,500 templates to choose from, Vistaprint offers far more variety than both Moo and Jukebox combined.

If Vistaprints templates arent quite enough, the online design tool is user-friendly and allows you to easily add your own text, upload stock photos, and customize background textures and colors.

Standard cards start from $20 for 500 cards, plus delivery and processing costs. This is less expensive than bothMooandJukebox.

There are also a good variety of paper stocks and finishes to choose from in the premium package you can choose a matte or glossy finish and opt for recycled stock if you wish. Specialty accents such as foil finishes and magnetic backgrounds are also available at an additional cost.

Moos primary difference is their innovative Printfinity technology, which allows them to print a different design on individual business cards within the same batch. For example, you can print different cards with their own targeted image for different leads or simply present your portfolio or product range on groups of cards.

Also of interest is Moos ability to embed near field communication (NFC) technology into their cards. This allows you to transmit the contact information on your business cards to enabled devices, such as smartphones or tablets, with a simple tap of the card on the device. This means your prospects will already have your information stored in their phones, and there is no risk of them losing your information if they misplace your card.

Moo also boasts a library of over 1,300 design templates, which, while fewer in number thanVistaprint, are of significantly higher quality. All of them have been created by professional designers, are highly customizable, and have a modern aesthetic thats missing from many other service providers.

The downside is that Jukebox is not as easy to use asVistaprintorMoo, so if youre looking for a standard business card you should probably go with one of the other two options.

View more unique cards that Jukebox has createdhere.

There are a lot of factors that go into the cost of business cards, including (but not limited to):

One choice youll need to make is how thick you want the card to be. The thicker the card, the more you can expect to pay. You will also pay more if you want the cards printed on an unconventional material, such as wood, cork, or bamboo.

There are different finishes you can add to your card to make them stand out. Your cards can be shiny, matte, or metallic depending on the impression you want to create.

Expect to pay extra for a custom design. You will sometimes pay more for color as well, though Moo and Jukebox both include the cost for full color in their prices.

If you want to stand out with an unusually shaped card, you will be charged extra. Some services, such as Vistaprint, dont offer sizes other than the standard rectangle.

Obviously, the more cards you purchase, the more you will be charged. However, your cost per card will decrease the more that you order.

Vistaprint charges $5.24 $5.99 to print on the back. Moo and Jukebox include printing on the front and back in the cost of their cards.

You will pay more for expedited shipping.

All of the options offer a wide range of pricing depending on how many add-ons you want for your business card. Vistaprint offers the lowest cost option, while Moo and Jukebox are both higher end.

Vistaprint:Vistaprint is one of the least expensive business card providers on the market. You can get 500 fairly good quality cards for just $14.98 (including shipping). However, we suggest spending a little extra to get the higher quality cardstock, which will cost around $11 more. This extra fee is worth it if you want your business card to look and feel professional. The lower cost options feel pretty flimsy.

While printing on the front side of your card is included, you will have to pay a small fee of $5.24 $5.99 to print on the back of 100 cards.

Another point to note is that Vistaprint is almost always running a special or promotion, so make sure you have a discount added before checking out. Sometimes they will automatically apply the discount for you, or you can click here to get500 cards for $9.99.

Moo:Moo is more expensive than Vistaprint because you are paying for higher quality cards. The standard cards (3.5 x 2) cost $19.99 for 50, or you can order the mini-cards (2.75 x 1.1) at $19.99 for 100.With Moo, full color printing on both sides is included in the price of the cards. Even better is that their printfinity option is also included. This means theres no additional cost to use a unique image on the back of every business card.

Jukebox:Jukebox prices their business cards based on how quickly you need them, giving you the option of wait and save cards and same day business cards. Full color on both sides is included, and you can also choose between a gloss or matte finish.

For business cards that are made out of regular paper and are standard (3.5 x 2) size, Jukebox charges $59 for 500, which is more than Vistaprint, but slightly less than Moo. If you want your card to be made out of a more unique material such as wood or cork, expect to pay $100-$300 more than the paper cards.

As a small business owner, its not likely that youre looking to design your own business card. Thats why most business card providers offer templates, so that you can choose from premade options and then simply insert your own information.

Vistaprint:Vistaprint has over 8,500 templates to choose from, much more than either Moo or Jukebox. You can search their database of templates using keywords that are related to your business or you can choose to browse templates based on industry. Although their templates are not the most creative, youre still likely to find a simple, sleek card that will work well for your type of business given how many options there are to choose from.

Moo offers over 1,300 templates to choose from that are created by professional graphic designers. When you browse through the templates, youre able to see a picture of the person who designed the template as well as their bio. You can easily make small changes to the designs, such as switching fonts or changing the color, or you can create your own design using Moos layouts as a base.

Jukebox:Jukebox has the fewest number of templates, with over 120 to choose from. These templates are not as aesthetically pleasing as Moos professionally designed templates, but you will still probably be able to find something that works for you.

If you want a business card design that is completely unique to your business, or you dont like any of the premade templates that the services provide, you can have a custom design created. All three options allow you to upload your own design and Vistaprint and Jukebox both offer their own design services. Vistaprints option doesnt include a full custom design and Jukebox is pricey at about $500, so we suggest using a third party designer.

One option is to hire a graphic designer usingFiverrfor as little as $5. You can search for graphic designers who have a high rating and who have good samples of previous work.

Another good option is to use99designs, a crowdsourcing platform that connects you to a community of designers. You can tell them your vision and you will get dozens of proposals to choose from. This will likely cost a few hundred dollars.

Vistaprint:Vistaprint offers graphic design services for $5. For this low price, dont expect them to create a completely custom card for you from scratch. Their service is more to take your current design to the next level by changing the color or layout or to recreate a business card that you like but dont have the files for. They also offer a logo design service for $90. You can learn more about Vistaprints graphic design serviceshere.

Moo:Moo doesnt offer graphic design services for a custom design. However, their templates are very customizable and they let you edit the layout, fonts, and images. Also, since their templates are created by designers, they are already very visually appealing and you should be able to find something that fits your business from their selection.

However, if you want something different, you can hire a third party designer fromFiverror99designs. Moo then allows you to upload the design into their system.

Jukebox:Jukebox boasts high end business card design from top talent from around the world. You can submit an online request form for a custom design, and you will be sent a quote to approve. If you approve, then the designer will send you a design to review and make comments on.

Design consultations with designers cost $45 for 30 minutes, which includes two rounds of revisions. Though they dont mention the cost for a custom design on their website, you can read about the experienceone customerhad using Jukeboxs custom design service.

As a small business owner, its important that the websites of these business card providers are easy to navigate. Otherwise, it could take you an unnecessary amount of time to complete a simple task such as ordering business cards.

Vistaprint:Vistaprint is very easy to use and understand. You can choose from a variety of templates. edit the text, and upload images through the system. They also provide 3D looking proofs that are true to size, which gives you a really good idea of how the cards will look once you receive them. This helps to make sure everything is sized correctly and easy to read.

Vistaprint also saves your previous orders so you can quickly retrieve and make small adjustments to cards youve ordered in the past. This is great if you have a larger team and you want everyone to have uniform business cards.

The only annoying thing is that Vistaprint will try to sell you on a variety of their other products, such as card holders, pens, etc. when youre trying to checkout. This delays the checkout process, but doesnt affect the user experience otherwise.

Moo:Moo is also really easy to use and they have a really clean looking platform where you can edit your cards. While going through the process, the website has cute transitions and there are jokes here and there that make creating the card more enjoyable.

While checking out, Moo alerted me that something seemed off with my order. It noticed that I hadnt altered the placeholder text that they use in the templates. For this and many other reasons, its clear that Moo is a really well designed and smart website, which makes their business card creation process very easy and intuitive.

If you are making edits to one of their templates, youre able to see how the finished card will look as you are making the changes.

Jukebox:Jukebox is a little more difficult to use than Vistaprint and Moo. Its not quite as intuitive and is harder to navigate. For example, at first it seems that you have to purchase the cards before you can see a proof. However, if you go to the templates section, you will be able to design your card using their templates or your own and download a proof. This differs from Moo and Vistaprint, which both have a get started button that walks you through the complete process without having to jump around the website.

A lot of times, small business owners dont think to order business cards until there is an event or trade show coming up. If you need last minute business cards, the good news is that you can get cards made pretty quickly. The bad news is that you can expect to pay a premium for express shipping.

Here are the breakdowns of the different shipping options based on delivery to our office in New York City:

Vistaprint:The fastest Vistaprint shipping option promises to deliver the cards in three business days for $19.99. There least expensive option takes eight business days and will cost you $4.99.

Moo can deliver your business cards before 10:30am the next day, as long as you order before 2pm EST. The shipping cost to do this is $54.75. If you can wait a week, your shipping cost goes down to $9.75.

Jukebox:Jukebox has same-day business cards available, but to take advantage of this fast turnaround time you will need to be located in Vancouver to pick them up. If youre not, you will need to pay from $25 to $130 for next-day shipping. With this option you can choose from a limited number of their products and expect to pay around $50 more for your cards (on top of the $25 to $130 for shipping) if you want them to be ready the same day.

If you can wait, the standard option takes 6-10 days to create the cards plus 1-7 business days (depending on the option you choose) in shipping time. Standard shipping costs $13.

Being able to chat with a customer service representative is a nice feature that all three options provide. I will say that the websites are fairly easy to navigate, but if you are having trouble creating your business cards then all three options provide phone, email, and chat support.

Vistaprint:Vistaprint offers 24-hour email and chat support and their phone hours are from 7:00am to midnight EST, Monday to Friday, and from 8:00am to 6:00pm EST on the weekend.

7am-Midnight (M-F) and 8am-6pm (Sa-Su).

Moo offers 24-hour chat support and promises to respond to emails by the end of the following business day. They are also available for phone support from 3:00am to 9:00pm EST, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

Jukebox:Jukebox offers 24-hour chat support and will respond to any emails within eight hours. They are also available for phone support from 6:00am to 5:30pm PST, Monday to Friday. Phone support is also available in French and Spanish.

We recommendVistaprintas the best business card provider for affordable and professional looking business cards. While they may not be of the same quality asMooor offer the same unique features asJukebox, they do offer the best combination of quality and price with a website thats easy to navigate and design tools that are intuitive to use.

If you want some inspiration for designing your business cards, be sure to check out these25 Business Card Design Ideas.

Gavin is an editor at Fit Small Business, focusing on a variety of small business topics. Gavin has been at the intersection of content management and creation in the digital marketing world for over ten years. As a project and production manager, he led cross-functional teams and owned client relationships in the automotive, fashion, hospitality, and media industries. While working at various entrepreneurial startups, he created content for clients, rethinking their web presence and developing strategies to reposition their brands online. When hes not writing, Gavin is a marathon runner, proud parent of an Australian Shepherd, and craft beer geek. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

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Wow! Great information. I normally prefer to design my cards with the help of illustration given on the online websites. Its very useful to make a brand new attractive business cards. A wonderful source of inspiration indeed. Thanks for sharing my friend!

Thanks for the wonderful informative article you wrote, few days back i ordered few cards from vistaprint and it was cool and effective way to get such unique design cards. Thanks for sharing the article. keep writing and keep smiling always.

I had a sample from Moo within the last month and the quality is excellent. In contrast my dad gets his from Vista Print and the quality is worse but they do regular offers for cheaper cards lower contrast, thinner card, washed out colours, etc.

Yes, I agree that Moo is higher quality, but also higher cost.

We get our cards from Vistaprint and feel that the quality is fine for our needs, but if you want premium then go with Moo.

Its better to use E-bussiness card like Im using it. Its amazing

Ill have to check that out, thanks!

Great findings above! very helpful. Ive used all three before and found that Moos quality was pretty good. Then, someone handed me their business card and mentioned they just switched from Moo to Primo Print. So, I used them twice and found the quality to be similar if not better than Moo. Ill still use Vista Print for swag items like calendars, pens and other stuff for my clients.

Thanks for the comment! Ill have to check out Primo Print.

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